On November 21, at the 17th site of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in front of the "Cosmonaut" Hotel, a ceremony was held to raise the flags of countries, participating in the "Soyuz MS-11" international manned launch to the International Space Station. The flag-raising ceremony is a long-standing tradition, that symbolizes the official launch of the final stage of crew preparation for a manned launch. After the flag-raising ceremony, Alexander Skvortsov, Luca Parmitano and Andrew Morgan went on a tour of Baikonur, which is traditional for the backup crew. Walking around the city, whose history is inextricably linked with the names of great people, involved in space exploration, the crew laid flowers at the monument to Yuri Gagarin and paid tribute to the legendary designer Sergey Korolev.

The "Progress MS-10" cargo spaceship on November 18, 2018 successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS). The "Progress MS-10" cargo spaceship delivered to the International Space Station more than two tons of various cargoes, including fuel, air, equipment for maintaining the station in working condition, packages and means for the life support of crew members.

On November 16, 2018, at 21:14 Moscow time, from the Baikonur cosmodrome, the "Soyuz-FG" launch vehicle was successfully launched under the International Space Station (ISS) program. The launch vehicle launched the "Progress MS-10" cargo spaceship into near-earth orbit. The automatic docking of the “spacetruck” with the ISS will take place on November 18 at 22:30 Moscow time.

At the Baikonur cosmodrome, preparations are continuing for the launches of the "Soyuz MS-11" manned spacecraft and the "Progress MS-10" cargo spacecraft. During the preparation of the "Soyuz MS-11" spacecraft, the inspection of the ship’s systems and compartments for leak tightness in a vacuum chamber using helium-air conditions was successfully completed. The launch of the "Soyuz MS-11" spacecraft is scheduled for December 3, 2018. Also at Baikonur cosmodrome the RSC "Energia" specialists conducted a design inspection of the "Progress MS-10" cargo ship and carried out technological operations on rolling the head fairing of the launch vehicle. The launch of the "Progress MS-10" cargo vehicle by the "Soyuz-FG" carrier rocket from the Baikonur cosmodrome is scheduled for November 16, 2018 from the launch complex № 1 (Gagarinsky start).

On November 7, 2018, at 03:47 Moscow time, the launch vehicle "Soyuz-ST-B" with the European meteorological spacecraft "MetOp-С" was launched from the cosmodrome of the Guiana Space Center. "MetOp-C" is the third and last satellite of the European Satellite Meteorology Organization. The first and second satellites of this series were launched in 2006 and 2012 respectively.

A press conference was held at the Mission Control Center at TSNIIIMASH on the results of the work of the State Commission to determine the causes of the emergency situation, that occurred on October 11, 2018 during the launch of the "Soyuz-FG" launch vehicle with the "Soyuz MS-10" spacecraft. The reason for abnormal separation is the failure to open the lid of the nozzle cover of the oxidizer tank of the “D” block due to the deformation of the splitting contact sensor stem (bending by 6˚45 ‘) allowed during assembling at the Baikonur cosmodrome. t the same time, the State Commission approved the launch dates for the International Space Station program: on November 16, 2018, the "Soyuz-FG" launch vehicle with the "Progress MS-10" cargo spacecraft will be launched, and on December 3, 2018, "Soyuz MS-11" spacecraft will be launched .

According to the information from TASS News Agency, the cause of the "Soyuz-FG" rocket accident, that occurred on October 11, was the abnormal operation of the sensor, signaling the separation of the first and second stages of the carrier. This was announced on Wednesday by Sergey Krikalev - the executive director of Roscosmos for manned programs. The "Soyuz-FG" launch vehicle with the "Soyuz MS-10" spacecraft crashed on October 11, shortly after launching from Baikonur.

The most important space date of this year is approaching - 20 years of the ISS! Thanks to the crew of the Soyuz MS-08 spacecraft, we can now enjoy new photos of the International Space Station!

50 years ago, on October 26, 1968, cosmonaut Georgy Beregovoi successfully launched a spacecraft "Soyuz" into orbit, opening the way for new generation ships to space. The beginning of the history of the “Soyuz” was not triumphant - three unmanned launches were unsuccessful It was an experimental flight, the cosmonaut Beregovoi had to work out the docking, however, the program could not be fully completed. But the main thing - the launch and landing of the new ship were successful!

On October 25 at 03.15 Moscow time Russian Aerospace Forces operational crew successfully launched Soyuz -2.1b booster with Russian Ministry of Defense satellite from Plesetsk launchsite located in Arkhalgelsk region.